Disposable ice container for ice shaving machine

ABSTRACT

A disposable ice container for an ice shaving machine includes: a container body including a side member having upper and lower openings and defining a storage, and a bottom member having a rotary member coupling mechanism being in contact with an inner side of the lower opening of the side member to fill the storage with water; and a fixing mechanism coupling the bottom member and the side member being each other.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a disposable ice container for an ice shaving machine. More particularly, the present invention relates to a disposable ice container for an ice shaving machine that can keep ice cold and can be mounted on an ice shaving machine. More particularly, the present invention relates to a disposable ice container for an ice shaving machine that can keep ice sanitary when distributing and keeping ice for shaved-ice by protecting the ice with side walls, and can prevent ice from flying outside when grinding the ice for making shaved-ice.

2. Description of the Related Art

An ice shaving machine that shaves small ice cubes and an ice shaving machine that shaves an ice block are typical ice shaving machines for making shaved-ice.

As an ice shaving machine for cube ice in the related art, an “Electric shaved ice maker” has been disclosed in Korean Utility Model No. 20-0316572 (Jun. 4, 2003) (hereafter, referred to as related art 1).

The related art 1 relates to an electric shaved ice maker including a body equipped with a driving gear, an ice container, a rotary shaft pipe, a rotary cup, a ring gear, a nut, a lid, and a stand, in which the sides of the ice container are made of a transparent material and the side of the rotary cup is decorated with various characters.

The related art 1, which is a shaved ice maker using ice cubes, is suitable for domestic use, but is not useful for a restaurant or a coffee shop that use a large quantity of shaved-ice. Further, since it uses ice cubes, the ice cubes occupy a large volume when they are kept cold, so it is not useful as an ice shaving machine for selling shaved-ice.

On the other hand, as an ice shaving machine using a large ice block, a “Domestic ice shaving machine” has been disclosed in Korean Utility Model Application Publication No. 20-1996-38186 (Dec. 18, 1995) (hereafter, referred to as related art 2).

The related art 2 relates to an ice shaving machine including: a base plate that has a seat on a side where a vessel for keeping ice is placed and a support rod having a locking protrusion on the other side; a support plate that has a fastening portion having a groove where the locking protrusion is inserted and a insertion groove where the support rod is inserted at the other side, supports a tub having a plurality of stoppers around it, and has blades inside the tub and cutting grooves with predetermined gaps; and an upper body that has a groove where the tub is inserted, has a plurality of stoppers inside the groove, has a predetermined rotational gap by the stoppers of the tub, and has a motor inside, in which a fixing plate for fixing ice is connected to a rotary shaft of the motor, so that when the fixing plate is rotated by the motor, ice is rotated and cut by the cutting grooves.

Referring to FIG. 1 simply showing the entire structure of the related art 2, a vessel space 3 where a vessel B is placed is formed at the lower portion of a body 1, a support plate 7 is fixed over the vessel space. When a rotary plate 5 coupled to a rotary rod 4 with ice I on the support plate 7, fixing blades 6 are driven into the ice and fixed therein, and then when the rotary plate 5 is rotated, the ice is shaved into shaved-ice in contact with a cutting blade 9 and then discharged into the vessel through a discharge hole 8.

Since the ice shaving machine of the related art 2 uses an ice block, it can be suitable for not only for domestic use, but shaved-ice stores, and generally, those shops purchase a large quantity of ice blocks, keep them in a freezer, and use them to make shaved-ice.

Accordingly, sanitary management is important in distribution and storage of ice when such an ice shaving machine is used, but ice to be used for ice shaving machines is distributed and stored in a state of being exposed to the outside without a specific package in the related art, so it is not sanitarily managed and may harm the health of people. Further, although it prevents ice fragment from flying outside when ice is shaved in a tub, the rotation speed of an electric ice shaving machine is high, and when not ice fragments, but a piece of ice flies to the outside from an ice block, the tube is damaged by shock and may threaten the security of a user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the related art, and the present invention is intended to propose a disposable ice container for an ice shaving machine that includes: sides defining an inverse-frustoconical storage with open top and bottom, a container body having a base coupled to the lower opening of the sides to keep water inside the sides, and a fixing mechanism coupling the base and the sides.

Further, the present invention is intended to propose a disposable ice container for an ice shaving machine including stoppers to which the lower end of a side member is locked or male and female locking portions formed at the contact portion of the inner side of the side member and the outer side of a bottom member, as the fixing mechanism, to easily make a disposable ice container and reduce the manufacturing cost.

Further, the present invention is intended to propose a disposable ice container for an ice shaving machine including a holding mechanism that can hold ice on a bottom member in order to prevent ice from being separated from the bottom member while the bottom member is separated and moved down from the side member to make shaved-ice.

In order to achieve the above object, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a disposable ice container for an ice shaving machine that can keep ice and can be mounted on an ice shaving machine. The disposable ice container includes: a container body including a side member having upper and lower openings and defining a storage, and a bottom member having a rotary member coupling mechanism being in contact with an inner side of the lower opening of the side member to fill the storage with water; and a fixing mechanism coupling the bottom member and the side member to each other.

In the disposable ice container for an ice shaving machine of the present invention, the fixing mechanism may include a stopper protruding on the inner side of the side wall to lock an upper end of the bottom member.

In the disposable ice container for an ice shaving machine of the present invention, the fixing mechanism may include male and female locking portions formed on a contact portion of the inner side of the side wall and an outer side of the bottom wall.

In the disposable ice container for an ice shaving machine of the present invention, the bottom member may include a holding mechanism for preventing ice from being separated from the bottom member.

According to the disposable ice container for an ice shaving machine of the present invention, since a container body allowing for making a large ice block is provided, the ice can be protected by the side member while it is carried, kept, and handled and contamination of the ice can be prevented because the ice is not exposed to the outside, so it is possible to easily sanitarily manage ice and provide high-quality shaved-ice.

Further, according to the disposable ice container for an ice shaving machine of the present invention, since ice is shaved while only the bottom member is separated and moved down from the side member with the side member directly coupled to an ice shaving machine, it is possible to prevent ice fragments from flying to the outside while shaving ice.

Further, according to the disposable ice container for an ice shaving machine of the present invention, since a stopper to which the lower end of the bottom member is locked is provided or male and female locking portions are provided at the contact portion of the bottom member and the side member, the side member and the bottom member are firmly coupled in various ways and the rotary member can be easily moved down, so it is possible to easily manufacture a disposable ice container and provide a disposable ice container corresponding to specifications of an ice shaving machine.

Further, according to the disposable ice container for an ice shaving machine of the present invention, since the holding mechanism for preventing ice from being separated from the bottom member is provided, even though the rotary member is moved down and the bottom member is separated down from the side member in order to shave ice, the ice is firmly held on the bottom member, so it is possible to prevent ice from being separated while the ice is handled or shaved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view showing an ice shaving machine according to the related art;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a disposable ice container for an ice shaving machine according to the present invention;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are cross-sectional views illustrating a disposable ice container for an ice shaving machine according to the present invention mounted on an ice shaving machine and shaving ice;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are exploded perspective view showing the disposable ice container for an ice shaving machine according to the present invention; and

FIGS. 7, 8A, 8B and 9 are views illustrating modifications of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention will now be described in detail based on aspects (or embodiments). The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to only the embodiments set forth herein, but should be construed as covering modifications, equivalents or alternatives falling within ideas and technical scopes of the present invention.

In the figures, like reference numerals, particularly, reference numerals having the same last two digits or the same last two digits and letters refer to like elements having like functions throughout, and unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, elements referred to by reference numerals of the drawings should be understood based on this standard.

Also, for convenience of understanding of the elements, in the figures, sizes or thicknesses may be exaggerated to be large (or thick), may be expressed to be small (or thin) or may be simplified for clarity of illustration, but due to this, the protective scope of the present invention should not be interpreted narrowly.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular aspects (or embodiments) only and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention. As used herein, the singular forms are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,”, “includes” and/or “including,” when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms including technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms used herein should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

Terms such as ‘a first ˜’ and ‘a second ˜’ are used only for the purpose for distinguishing a constitutive element from other constitutive element, but constitutive element should not be limited to a manufacturing order, and the terms described in the detailed description of the invention may not be consistent with those described in the claims

For convenience of the description of a customized 3D printing robot according to the present invention, when an approximate direction rather than a precise direction is specified with reference to FIG. 2, a lower side is determined based on a direction to which gravity is applied, and up and down directions and right and left directions are determined based on the lower side. This standard may be also applied to the other drawings, and directions may be specified and described based on this standard unless the detailed description of the invention and the claims specially indicate otherwise. Further, in drawing showing an example of making shaved-ice with an ice container turned upside down, the components may be indicated with different directions from the actual directions.

Hereinbelow, a detachable ice container for an ice shaving machine according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 8B, a disposable ice container for an ice shaving machine according to the present invention includes a container body 10 where water W can be supplied and ice can be made, a side member 11 that defines the container body 10, and a fixing mechanism 20 that fixes a bottom member 13.

First, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 6, the container body 10 includes the side member 11 that has open top and bottom and defines an inverse-frustoconical storage 12, and a bottom member 13 having a bottom 13 a and a side 13 b formed around the bottom 13 a in a shape similar to common vessels.

The outer side of the side 13 b of the bottom member 13 is in contact with the inner side around the lower opening of the side member 11 so that the storage 12 can be filled with water.

Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 2, the container body 10 of the present invention has the inverse-frustoconical storage 12, the storage 12 is covered with the bottom member 13 at the bottom with the top open, and the storage 12 is filled with water with the bottom plate 13 down and then kept in a freezer so that the water in the storage 12 freezes.

Since the water is larger in density than ice, the container body 10 may be filled with water up to ⅔ of the height of the container body 10.

When ice is made, the container body 10 containing the ice can be directly sent to a shaved-ice store by a refrigerator car etc.

Therefore, according to the present invention, ice that is carried is not exposed to the outside by the container body 10 composed of the side member 11 and the bottom member 13, so the ice can be sanitarily managed without being contaminated by external factors.

A detachable cover may be coupled to the upper opening defined by the side wall 11 so that the upper opening is closed in distribution after ice is made and then the ice can be shaved after the cover is removed to made shaved-ice.

Although the storage 12 has an inverse-frustoconical shape when ice is made in the container body 10, when the container body 10 is mounted on an ice shaving machine and then ice is shaved, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the container body is turned upside down in a frustoconical shape. Accordingly, when a rotary member 31 is rotated and moved down, the bottom plate 13 is pushed down into the storage space 12 from the lower opening defined by the side wall 11, and since the ice I is held on the bottom member 13, the ice is separated from the inner side of the side wall 11 and rotated and moved down to a support member 32, so the ice is shaved.

The present invention includes the fixing mechanism 20 that firmly fixes the bottom member 13 and the side member 11 to each other in the container body 10.

The fixing mechanism 20 protrudes from the inner side of the side wall to prevent the bottom member 13 from being separated from the side member 11, particularly, the fixing mechanism 20 prevents the bottom member 13 from being separated from the side member 11 before ice is shaved with the container body 10 turned upside down after the ice is made.

First and second embodiments of the fixing mechanism 20 are described hereafter in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4. The first and second embodiments are shown together in the figures to convenience of description.

First, according to the first embodiment, as shown in the right enlarged cross-sectional view in FIG. 2 and the left enlarged cross-sectional view in FIG. 4, the fixing mechanism 20 is a stopper 21 protruding from the inner side of the side wall 11 to lock the upper end of the bottom member 13.

The side member 11 of the present invention makes a inverse-frustoconical shape, as described above, so if water is supplied in the state of FIG. 2, the bottom member 13 is not separated due to the narrow portion that is the lower opening defined by the side wall 11 (the bottom plate 13 is not separated, considering the container body 10 is placed with the bottom member 13 down at a predetermined place when it is filled with water).

In contrast, when the container body is turned upside down such that the wide portion that is the upper opening defined by the side wall 11 faces down in order to shave ice, the bottom plate 13 is separated from the side member 11, so the ice may be unexpectedly separated.

Accordingly, it is possible to solve this problem by using the stopper 21 to which the upper end of the side 13 b of the bottom member 13 is locked.

The stopper 21 may be composed of a plurality of projections that protrudes in the shape of a point with predetermined intervals around the inner side of the side member 11.

Alternatively, projections may be formed in the shape of a line around the inner side of the side member 11.

Only a fixing mechanism 20 composed of a plurality of projections formed in the shape of a point (first and second embodiments) and grooves (second embodiment) is representatively shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, when the container body 10 is turned upside down and placed on an ice shaving machine, with the bottom member 13 fixed, the rotary member 31 of the ice shaving machine is coupled to a rotary member coupling mechanism 15 of the bottom member 13, and then the ice shaving machine is operated, the rotary member 31 rotates and moves down, the bottom member 13 is rotated and pushed down, and the upper end (the lower end in FIGS. 3 and 4) of the side 13 b is unlocked from the stopper 21. Accordingly, the ice held on the bottom member 13 is also rotated and moved down and the bottom of the ice is brought in contact with the cutting blade 33 in the support member 321, so the ice starts to be shaved. Further, the shaved ice drops into the vessel for keeping shaved-ice through the discharge hole 34 of the support member 32.

In this case, the side wall 11 has the inverse-frustoconical storage 12, but when it is turned upside down, the storage 12 is positioned with the wider opening up, so once the side 13 b of the bottom member 13 is separated from the stopper 21, the side 13 b and the stopper 21 does not interfere with each other while the bottom member 13 is moved down, so it has an influence on shaving the ice.

Next, according to the second embodiment, as shown in the left enlarged cross-sectional view in FIG. 2 and the right enlarged cross-sectional view in FIG. 4, the fixing mechanism 20 is composed of male and female locking portions 22 and 23 formed at the contact portion of the inner side of the side member 11 and the outer side of the bottom member 13.

That is, the male and female locking portions 22 and 23 are formed on the inner side of the side member 11 and the outer side of the side 13 b, respectively, so the bottom member 13 is coupled and fixed to the side member 11 by the male and female locking portions 22 and 23 fitted to each other.

In the second embodiment of the fixing mechanism 20 shown in the figures, the male locking portion 22 protruding on the inner side of the side member 11 and the female locking portion 23 recessed on the outer side of the side 13 b of the bottom member 13 can be seen, and the opposite configuration is also included in the scope of the present invention.

Further, similar to the stopper 21, the male and female locking portions 22 and 23 may be implemented in various ways such as a type fitting a plurality of projections and grooves to each other in the shape of a point or a type fitting projections and grooves to each other in the shape of a line.

In the second embodiment having this configuration, similar to the first embodiment, when the rotary member is rotated and moved down to shave ice, with the container body 10 turned upside down, the male and female locking portions 22 and 23 are unlocked and the ice is rotated and moved down with the bottom member 13.

However, the bottom member 13 is fixed over the lower opening of the side member 11 by the male-female locking in the second embodiment, so it is possible to support the bottom member 13 not to be separated in cooperation with the inverse-frustoconical shape of the storage 12 even though the bottom member 13 faces down to fill the storage with water.

Although the storage 12 is limited in the inverse-frustoconical shape for the convenience of description in the drawings, it is not limited thereto.

That is, even if the side wall 11 is formed in a cylindrical shape, the bottom member 13 can be fixed by the fixing mechanism 20 (even if the first embodiment is applied, the bottom member 13 is not separated when the container body 10 is placed in a freezer and filled with water), so it is possible to shave ice by rotating and moving down only the bottom member 13 and the ice, after water is supplied and ice is made.

However, when the storage 12 is formed in a cylindrical shape, the fixing mechanism 20 is unlocked to shave ice and the stopper or the male locking portion 22 may continuously interfere with rotation and downward movement of ice by being in contact with the inner side or the outer side of another member while bottom member 13 is rotated and moved down, so the side member 11 defining the inverse-frustoconical storage 12 is preferable.

Therefore, according to the present invention, ice contained in the container body 10 by the fixing mechanism 20 can be mounted on an ice shaving machine and then shaved, so the side member 10 prevents ice fragments from flying to the outside while the ice is shaved.

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 8B, the rotary member coupling mechanism 15 is provided on the outer side of the bottom member 13 so that the container body 10 containing ice can be mounted on an ice shaving machine and the ice can be shaved.

The rotary member coupling mechanism 15 may be formed in various shapes in accordance with the shape of the rotary member of an ice shaving machine that is used.

That is, though not shown in the drawings, if only a rotary rod having a coupling member (not shown) is employed as the rotary member of an ice shaving machine, the rotary member coupling mechanism 15 may be a coupling groove that is formed at the center of the bottom 13 a and to which the rotary rod is coupled by a coupling member.

Alternatively, if a rotary member that is driven into ice and then rotated after the ice is fixed is employed, the rotary member coupling mechanism 15 may be composed of a plurality of fixing grooves that is recessed on the bottom to fit to the shape and position of fix-blades (not shown) of the rotary member to fit the fixed-blades.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, when a rotary member 31 without a fixed-blade for safety of a user is provided as the rotary member of an ice shaving machine, the rotary member coupling mechanism 15 may be a coupling hole or a coupling groove.

In detail, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the rotary member coupling mechanism 15 is a coupling hole 15 b where a coupling protrusion 31 b of the rotary member 31 is fitted.

That is, when the rotary member 31 is composed of a rotary rod 31B connected to a driving unit (not shown) in the body of an ice shaving machine, a rotary plate 31A connected to the end of the rotary rod 31B, a plurality of protrusions 31 a protruding downward on the bottom of the rotary plate 31A and arranged circumferentially around the edge of the rotary plate 31A, and coupling protrusions 31 b protruding in the rotational direction of the rotary member 31 from the protrusions 31 a, the bottom member 13 has a plurality of counter-protrusions 15 a that protrudes on the top of the bottom 13 a and locks the protrusions 31 a and coupling holes 15 b that are formed in the counter-protrusions 15 a and to which the coupling protrusions are fitted, in which the counter-protrusions and the coupling holes make the rotary member coupling mechanism 15.

Accordingly, when the rotary member 31 is moved down and then rotated and moved down, with the container body 10 turned upside down on the support member 32, the coupling protrusions 31 b are fitted into the coupling holes 15 b and the protrusions 31 a push the counter-protrusions 15 a in the rotational direction of the rotary rod, so the bottom member 13 and the ice I are rotated and moved down and the ice is shaved into shaved-ice by a shaving blade.

The counter-protrusions shown in FIG. 7 are modified from the counter-protrusions shown in FIG. 5, in which one or more ribs 15 d protruding in the rotational direction are provided to ensure strength of the counter-protrusions 15.

Further, though not shown in the drawings, when the rotary member is composed of a rotary rod connected to a driving unit in the body of an ice shaving machine, a rotary plate connected to the rotary rod, and a plurality of locking protrusions (not shown) protruding downward on the bottom of the rotary plate and arranged circumferentially around the edge of the rotary plate, the bottom member 31, as shown in FIG. 8A, has a plurality of insertion grooves 15 c that is recessed on the top of the bottom 13 a and in which the locking protrusions are inserted, in which the insertion grooves make the rotary member coupling mechanism 15.

In this configuration, when the rotary member 31 is rotated with the locking protrusions inserted in the insertion grooves 15 c, the locking protrusions push the insertion grooves 15 c, to the bottom member 13 and ice are rotated and moved down.

The portions that protrude inside the storage 12 due to the insertion grooves 15 c function as a holding mechanism 14 that prevents ice from being separated from the bottom member 13 and they will be described in detail below.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the bottom member 13 of the present invention has the holding mechanism 14 that prevents ice from being separated from the bottom member 13.

This configuration is provided to prevent ice from being separated from the bottom member 13 before the container body 10 is placed onto the support member 31 of an ice shaving machine after being turned upside down.

The holding mechanism 14 is composed of locking protrusions 14A protruding on the inner side of the bottom 13 a of the bottom member 13, including a retainer 14 a for preventing separation of ice.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the holding mechanism may be composed of locking protrusions 14A (a kind of undercut projection) protruding at the center on the inner side of the bottom 13 a and having an inverse-frustoconical shape (in FIG. 2, but frustoconical shape in FIG. 3) similar to an inverse trapezoid.

Further, though not shown in the figures, the holding mechanism may be composed of locking protrusions having an approximately ‘L-shape’ or ‘T-shape’ to be able to prevent ice from being separated from the bottom member 13.

The holding mechanism 14 may be implemented by one locking protrusion 14A at the center on the inner side of the bottom 13 a or may be composed of a plurality of locking protrusions (see FIG. 9) formed in a circular or a non-circular shape on the inner side of the bottom 13 a.

Accordingly, when water in the storage 12 of the container body 10 freezes, the locking protrusions 14A remains in the ice and the ice is held on the bottom member 13 by the holding mechanism 14 a, so the ice can be prevented from being separated from the bottom member 13.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the holding mechanism 14 may be composed of holding protrusions 14B arranged circumferentially around the bottom member 13 and a retainer (not shown) bending to one side or both sides from the end of the holding protrusions 14B.

In this configuration, the retainer of the holding protrusions 14B, similar to the retainer 14 a of the locking protrusions 14A, prevents ice from being separated from the bottom member 13 and the holding protrusions 14B prevent idling of the bottom member 13 due to torque of the bottom member 13 transmitted to the holding protrusions 14B when the bottom member 13 is rotated by the rotary member 31, so the holding mechanism 14 prevents ice from being separated from the bottom member 13.

The holding protrusions 14B are the insertion grooves 15 c recessed inward on the bottom member 13 that function as the rotary member coupling mechanism 15.

Although a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A disposable ice container for an ice shaving machine that can keep ice and can be mounted on an ice shaving machine, the disposable ice container comprising: a container body including a side member having upper and lower openings and defining a storage, and a bottom member having a rotary member coupling mechanism being in contact with an inner side of the lower opening of the side member to fill the storage with water; and a fixing mechanism keeping the bottom member and the side member being coupled to each other.
 2. The disposable ice container of claim 1, wherein the fixing mechanism includes a stopper protruding on the inner side of the side wall to lock an upper end of the bottom member.
 3. The disposable ice container of claim 1, wherein the fixing mechanism includes male and female locking portions formed on a contact portion of the inner side of the side wall and an outer side of the bottom wall.
 4. The disposable ice container of claim 1, wherein the bottom member includes a holding mechanism for preventing ice from being separated from the bottom member.
 5. The disposable ice container of claim 2, wherein the bottom member includes a holding mechanism for preventing ice from being separated from the bottom member.
 6. The disposable ice container of claim 3, wherein the bottom member includes a holding mechanism for preventing ice from being separated from the bottom member. 